Nagaland: Ad hoc teachers' hunger strike enters 11th day, 1 hospitalised

KOHIMA: An ad hoc government teacher of Nagaland on hunger strike outside the civil secretariat here demanding regularisation of service was rushed to the hospital on Thursday, the eleventh day of the agitation. With this the number of protestors hospitalised rose to nine, the spokesperson of All Nagaland Ad hoc Teachers Group (ANATG), Bendangtemsu Ozukum said. They are among the 38 members of ANATG -2015 batch who are participating in the hunger strike.

Ozukum said there was no positive development on their demand during the day and the members are firm on continuing the agitation till their demand for immediate regularisation is fulfilled. A total 1166 members of the body who were appointed to different government schools in the state from 1994 to 2012 are holding a sit-in in front of the civil secretariat since September 26 in support of their demand. The protestors had rejected the state government's offer on Monday to set up a high-powered committee and reaffirmed their demand for immediate regularisation of their service. They also submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio seeking his intervention to resolve the matter.

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On Tuesday a 31-member team comprising of ANATG office holders and its core committee members held a closed-door meeting with the advisor to the school education department, K T Sukhalu, the commissioner and secretary of the school education department Kevileno Angami, its principal director Thavaseelan K and its director Wanthungo Tsopoe. The meeting, however, was deadlocked as both sides did not budge from their stand.

The government had been maintaining that it was not in a position to regularise the ad hoc teachers because of the standing order of the Supreme Court and High Court not to regularise ad hoc appointees. The ANATG on the other hand had cited instances of ad hoc employees of other departments being regularised by the government. Thavaseelan has said that the members of the ANATG-2015 Batch were not illegal appointees but were appointed irregularly without following proper norms in sanctioned posts. The department suggested the ad hoc teachers to move the court to vacate the order, without which it would not be possible to regularise their service.